Pot of Gold
by PCGirl
Summary: Complete! Another Jolie fic! Begins after 5-13-04 episode. We are all searching for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow--it just comes faster to some than others.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything—ABC/Disney does. Got it? Good.

A/N: I have no idea where this story is going, well I do—I just don't know how I want to get there. It starts after yesterday's episode (5/13/04)—and might go in a parallel direction as a certain spoiler for next week. Not sure yet, but you'll see if it happens. Until next time—PCGirl.

"What's your excuse?"  
  
"Huh?" said John as he came out of the oblivion his mind had been in while staring at the report in front of him and looked up to see Antonio standing in the doorway. "Did you say something?"  
  
"Yeah, I said what was your excuse—I mean I know why I look like hell, but you—well even this look is a little odd for you," he laughed.  
  
"Long night," he shrugged going back to the report.  
  
"Yeah? Want to tell me about it or do I wait to hear the gossip from Jess?" he said as he sat down in the seat in front of the desk.  
  
"Nothing really to tell—just got some stuff on my mind. Speaking of Jess—she said you had some type of stake out to do the other night?"  
  
"Yeah, well I really can't talk about it—you know how it is."  
  
"Yeah, I do. As for Jess--," he laughed.  
  
"She's nosy, but anyways—we were going to lunch soon, wanted to see if you and Nat wanted to join us."  
  
"Is she back from AC?"  
  
"You didn't go after her?" he asked as he saw the expression on John's face, "Oh. You did go—and?"  
  
"And—hey, it's complicated right now. Like you said, you'll hear everything through Jess later. As for lunch, I'll pass—I want to look into something my brother has me working on," he said getting up and putting his jacket on.  
  
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Natalie laughed, "I can't believe you—you want me to marry your gambling buddy over there because why? Because then I'll be more willing to let you drain my trust fund?"  
  
"Well, you aren't doing anything with it—no reason to let good money go to waste, ya know Natty?" she said as she saw her bookie come downstairs looking for her and she ducked behind the nearest set of slot machines.  
  
"What are you doing Roxanne?"  
  
"Nothing—you didn't see me though."  
  
"Who would be looking for you?" she asked as she caught sight of the bookie, "Oh my god Roxy—you didn't pay up, did you? You just wasted $4,000 on the slots, didn't you?"  
  
"The ponies also—it was Paul's fault though," she said as Natalie rolled her eyes at her and walked towards him. "Wait—what are you doing?" she whispered as she grabbed Natalie's arm from moving further.  
  
"Getting your butt out of hot water again."  
  
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John walked towards the door—uneasy about what he was going to say. Just as he began to knock he heard Dr Long talking on the other side, "I don't care Cramer—you better have that launch pad at this hospital by lunch. I've got a—hold on," he said as he saw a shadow and opened the door to see John standing there expressionless, "Can I help you?"  
  
"I'm Michael McBain's brother," he smiled as he thought about what Paul must be saying on the other end of the telephone.  
  
"I guess nosiness and eavesdropping run in the family," he said looking John up and down.  
  
"Listen—I just wanted to apologize for the way my brother was acting. He's a smart kid, but sometimes he gets these ideas in his head that just make no sense. I talked to him again this morning, and I know he won't be bothering you about that silly matter again."  
  
"Thank you," he said shutting the door and he heard him begin to start up the conversation with Paul again—this time quieter than before.  
  
"But who's to say I won't," he thought as he grinned and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for the delay ya'll. I posted that first chapter and got stuck with where to go from there. I think this story will either end up being 4 or 5 chapters. Anyways, Enjoy! Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

"Thanks again for dinner, Nat," said Paul as they looked across from each other at the cottage kitchen table.

"It's not like I cooked it--it was takeout from Rodi's, I already told you that."

"Yeah, well after being in the military anything that doesn't get served to you using an ice cream scoop tastes like homemade. Can you cook?"

"Yeah, I make some awesome macaroni and cheese," she smiled as her mind went to that day at the cabin with John--and how they talked about lonely Christmas' together while eating macaroni and cheese.

She stopped herself at that thought. She had promised herself she would focus on Paul tonight, not John--who knew when he'd finally be ready to move on, but she was ready to move on and move on now--and Paul was the perfect person to help her do that.

Paul coughed and pulled her back to reality, "So I was wondering--what's for dessert?" he grinned as she leaned over and kissed him.

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"Thanks for coming along with me on the stakeout for a bit—I figured that Jess might try and follow me. If she sees that I'm with you—well maybe her anxiety level will go down a bit."  
  
"Her and Natalie both have too much stress with their mom and her condition to have to stress out over guys also," grinned John as he took a swallow of beer. "Besides, I had nothing better to do tonight."  
  
"Life that boring, huh? Jessica didn't tell me anything incriminating about why you and Natalie are acting the way you are lately—want to spill the beans?"  
  
"Nah—not really," he said with a slight laugh, "So you saw her earlier?"  
  
Antonio laughed, no matter how much John denied it and ignored the questions, he wanted Natalie and hated the thought of her with anyone else but him, "Yeah, at Rodi's—she was picking up a to go order for two. That's why I first didn't offer you to come with me tonight—thought you two might have finally worked everything out."  
  
"I don't know if it'll ever get worked out now."  
  
"Give it time."  
  
"Yeah, well that's another story," he said as Antonio's cell phone began to ring, "Who is it?"  
  
"Kevin. Hold on," he said answering it, "This is Antonio."  
  
"Hey—it's Kevin. Listen, I wish I didn't have to say this over the phone. My mom had a massive heart attack while visiting Ben—I'm on my way over to the hospital, can you get Jessica and Natalie and meet me there?"  
  
"Yeah, I've got John McBain with me—he'll go get Natalie and we'll see you there," he said hanging up and looking at John. "So much for a slow night doing a stakeout," he said quietly as they both hopped off the bar stools, paid there tab and grabbed their jackets.  
  
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John knocked on the door softly, "Nat—," but got no response. He knew she was here, and he knew who she was with too as he turned and looked at the black car that was parked next to her silver BMW. "Nat, open up—it's me," he said louder and it was still silent. "NATALIE!" he yelled and the door opened for him to see his mom.  
  
"Mom—where is she?"  
  
"Well," she bit her lip and looked up to the stairs.  
  
"This is going to be fun," he grinned quickly before putting no expression on his face and running up the steps. "Natalie—I need to talk to you," he said as he leaned his head on the door.  
  
"I'm kinda busy John," she said through giggles as Paul kissed her neck.  
  
"Nat—this is serious, please come out here."  
  
"No—I'm having fun and really don't want to be bothered right now," she said sitting up in the bed and pushing Paul off of her.  
  
"Well, guess what—I don't take no for an answer," he said walking into Natalie's bedroom.  
  
"What is your problem McBain?" asked Paul.  
  
John ignored both the question and what Paul was, or was not wearing, "Natalie—I need to talk to you in private please."  
  
"No, if you have something to say you can say it in front of Paul," she said looking at him, but saw that he was pleading with his eyes not to do this and she gave a sigh and walked out of the room.  
  
John turned to leave but was pulled back by Paul, "Man, you have some serious hold on her because whenever you come around she completely ignores everyone else. But you know what—you made your choice and you didn't want her so step aside and let someone else have their shot.  
  
"You don't know anything about the choices I've made in my life. I know some of yours, and from where I'm standing they all have to do with money. My guess is the only reason you want her is money also. Right now isn't about Natalie and my feelings for her—so let me go before you get what's coming to you Cramer."  
  
"Ooo—big bad cop thinks he's going to scare me out of my date—well think again bucko."  
  
"I'm not trying to scare anyone—just trying to help out a friend," he said as he pulled back and punched Paul right in the face causing him to stumble backwards onto the bed and roll around in agony as he held his bloody and broken nose.  
  
"This better be good, _friend_," she scowled as she watched the gears in John's head turn with a way to say what he needed her to know. "What's going on? Is it my mom? Is something wrong with her?"  
  
"Kevin called Antonio while I was with him—she had a massive heart attack in Ben's room. Antonio went to pick up Jessica, and he asked me to come tell you rather than telling you on the phone."  
  
Natalie's mouth dropped her eyes filled with tears, "This can't be happening—this really can't be happening. I mean I've only known her a little while—I can't lose her like this. Am I dreaming? Is this some really weird whacked out dream I'm having and I'm going to wake up any second in a cold sweat?"  
  
"Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?"  
  
Natalie just looked at him while biting her bottom lip and shook her head yes.  
  
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"Jess," said Natalie as she walked up to her, Antonio, and Kevin standing around waiting for some news.  
  
"Thanks for bringing her, John," said Kevin as he shook his hand and him and Antonio went over to the corner to talk.  
  
"Any news yet?"  
  
"No, we're waiting on Larry to come out and tell us something. Dorian was the one who found her—who knows when the next person would have gone into that room."  
  
"Thank God for small favors," he said as they turned and saw Dr. Larry Woleck come out of the room.  
  
"How is she?" asked Kevin.  
  
"Kids—it's not good. Your mom's heart was severely damaged and will need a heart transplant soon."  
  
"How soon are we talking?" asked Jessica.  
  
"I'd say within seventy-two hours."  
  
Natalie and Jessica both gasped and Jessica went into Antonio's arms for comfort immediately. John looked awkwardly at Natalie and finally pulled her into a hug, but she pulled away and ran off seconds later.


	3. Chapter 3

"I figured I'd find you up here," said John as he walked up onto the helipad and saw Natalie standing there looking over the side. "Your fly boy not around?" he said with a laugh.  
  
"No, I think you pretty much took care of that John," she snapped but didn't turn around to look at him. "Did you really have to punch him?"  
  
"He wasn't going to let you leave with me," said John as he came over to the edge of the roof and looked out at it.  
  
"Well, you didn't exactly come out and say that my mom had had a massive heart attack, did you?"  
  
He gave a half shrug, "No, I'm sorry. Maybe I went about it the wrong way of telling you—I just didn't think he had any right to know what was going on."  
  
"Fine," she said shortly.  
  
"You feeling ok? Maybe we should go get some coffee and sit down," he said as he turned around and sat on the ledge.  
  
"No, I don't want coffee, ok? What I want is for my mom to be fine. For us to find her a heart and give it to her and let her live. I just found her John—I can't lose her."  
  
"We're going find a heart and you are going to continue having the happiness you have with her. Nothing is going to change--this is just a small stumbling block to get through."  
"You know what happiness is to me? It's like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Sure it's nice to think we'll find the end of that rainbow one day, but we all know that a rainbow is no more than water and light dancing together in the clouds."  
  
"You don't think happiness exists?"  
  
"And you do?"  
  
"Sure—I mean what you had with Cris and what I had with Caitlyn—we were happy then, right?"  
  
"Ugh—can we please go a conversation without bringing up our ghosts?" she groaned as the door opened and he grabbed her and pulled her to the shadows. He put his finger on his lip as they stood there motionless as Dr. Long and Paul now wearing a nose splint came out onto the helipad.  
  
"Make sure this gets to Newark quickly. And that little red head girlfriend of yours—Victoria Davidson's daughter, have her come by my office when you get back—I might be able to get her mom that heart she needs quicker than they think," he grinned.  
  
"Hey—do I get an extra cut for bringing her in?" asked Paul as he touched his nose and grimaced at the pain.  
  
"That little--," she whispered thinking that she wasn't upset with the broken nose he received from John as she had been a few minutes prior.  
  
"Aren't you the greedy one, Cramer?" said John as he held onto Natalie from tackling him to the ground.  
  
"I'll see—depends on how much they give me," said Long as he looked over across the way and onto the roof of the Angel Square Hotel and quickly left.  
  
They waited until Paul had left and stood up and went to the railing, "What was it that made Dr. Long run like that?" she said as she went to the point he had been at and looked out around them.  
  
John was looking too, he knew exactly what it was as he saw Marcie standing on the roof right now, "Marcie—" he groaned as he went running down the stairs leaving Natalie waiting and worrying.  
  
----------  
  
John stood at the top of the steps leading to the roof with the door cracked. He had grabbed Antonio on the way out for backup in case something unexpected happened. Right now they were just listening in on the conversation with the door cracked open.  
  
"What are you doing up here Miss Walsh?"  
  
"Me—Oh, I was just up here getting some air," she said stumbling over her words.  
  
"Right—do you live in this hotel?"  
  
"Michael lives here actually," she said as she stood up for herself while slowly backing towards the edge of the building.  
  
"He's able to get up steps with a broken leg?"  
  
"Well, no actually—see I came by to pick up some stuff of his, and decided it was such a beautiful night--."  
  
John decided to end this lie that Marcie was telling and motioned for Antonio to go downstairs and wait for him, "Marcie, you up here?" he called as he opened the door. "Hey—you ready to head back over to your place? I got Michael's stuff packed up for you."  
  
"Oh, you didn't have to do that for me, John."  
  
"Well, he's my little brother—I've got to watch out for him," he said as he smiled to Dr. Long and watched him leave. He waited a few seconds and then turned back to Marcie, "What the hell were you thinking?"  
  
"Well, I was listening at his office, and I thought I heard something about Newark so I came over here to see what was going on. I don't have the camera or binoculars so I couldn't see anything really."  
  
"Well, if I hadn't been up there with Natalie and known that Dr. Long was headed over here then you'd be dead right now. So go home to my brother and don't try and crazy stuff like that again, ok?"  
  
"Ok—you don't have to be a grouch," she said leaving him up there.  
  
"I'm not being a grouch—I'm just trying to keep you from being killed!" he yelled back.  
  
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John had emptied out the dresser drawer and now had the contents spread out before him. He knew this was something he had to do—no not _had_, something he _wanted_ to do. He picked up her diary and opened it to one of the later passages and began to hear her voice reading to him,  
  
"Usually when I write it's a recap of the day, but today I want to do something different. John came home to tell me some good news. One of the guys that started at the bureau with him and Kathryn was Aaron. A year ago Aaron lost his wife to cancer. It hit him pretty hard and he's been pretty down, but today John said that he was actually in a good mood today. It turns out that Aaron has had feelings for awhile for someone else, and has finally decided to let go of his wife's ghost and find someone else he can share his love with. I know if something happened to me I wouldn't want John to hold onto my ghost, though if the tables were turned I'm not sure I could let go of his memories either. But are you really letting go or just allowing yourself to find happiness again?"  
  
John took a deep breath—he'd never read that entry before, but figured that somehow Caitlin was telling him this was all ok—not that he hadn't been told that a hundred times already in the past months. The ringing of the phone brought him back to the present, "Hello?" he said as he held the phone between his ear and shoulder while putting all of Caitlin's stuff back in the drawer.  
  
"Hey John—let Natalie know that the doctor is coming by in about fifteen minutes if she wants to talk to him," said Jessica.  
  
"That's great Jess, but Natalie's not with me."  
  
"She's not?"  
  
"Nope. I haven't seen her since I left her on the hospital roof."  
  
"Yeah, she came back down a few minutes later then asked to take Antonio's car over to the hotel to see you for a bit--said she didn't feel safe walking outside tonight by herself. She went in my purse and got the keys out."  
  
"Are you sure she got the keys?"  
  
"Let me check. Well, that's odd—the keys are in here, but the tape recorder is missing."  
  
John ran his hands through his hair, "I have a feeling I know where she is. We'll be there in a few—keep the doctor there longer if you can," he said as he stopped putting the stuff away and grabbed his coat before leaving.  
  
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"Paul called me earlier from Newark--said you can help my mother get the new heart that she needs," spoke Natalie as she nervously sat in the chair across from Dr. Long.  
  
"Of course, I can. But you do know that this may cost a pretty penny, right?"  
  
"Well, I am a trust fund baby," she said as her confidence rose. She couldn't believe she was doing this—but it wasn't just for her mom, this was also for Michael, Marcie, and all the other families out there that had lost a loved one because they didn't have the money that Dr Long requested from them for _his _organs.  
  
"Yes, I am aware of this. Is there a time frame they said your mother will need a heart by?"  
  
"The doctor said 72 hours earlier," she said as her phone began to ring, "Hello?"  
  
"Hey Natalie—it's John. Listen, the doctor is on his way over for the last visit of the night."

"Oh, I'll be right there," she said hanging up her phone. "I need to be somewhere. When can we finish this discussion?"  
  
"Tomorrow, early afternoon? That way I can have the paperwork ready and you should be able to get your funds situated for the transfer."  
  
"Thank you again," she said as she closed the door and was messing around in her purse turning off the tape recorder, "Hope you caught all of that," she smiled to herself proudly.  
  
"Caught what?" asked John as he leaned against the opposite wall with his arms crossed.  
  
"John—hi—I thought you were over in CCU?"  
  
"And I thought you told Jessica you were coming over to see me?" he said as they both moved to walk towards the elevators.  
  
"Don't you get it? I was trying to help you--trying to get you the proof you need that this man is a complete wacko that enjoys selling organs to the highest bidder.

"I'm going to tell you what I told Michael--I'm working on trying to get the proof I need. What you have on that tape is not the same as a confession, Natalie? I want all three of you to stop playing cops, and let the real cops do their job."

"I'm sorry," she said coldly and stopped in the hall.

He turned to look at her and saw her eyes were filling with tears again, "Hey, come here," he said holding her tightly.

"John--what if the only heart we can get is the one that Dr. Long has?" she said as she broke down in sobs.

"Another heart will show up. And Dr. Long isn't going to be playing the auction game much longer because I'm going to catch the rat, ok? I just don't want any of you to get hurt because I'm not there in time to save you."  
  
She stopped crying and wiped her tears before looking up at him as he still held her, "So what were you doing after you chased Dr. Long off the roof of the hotel?"  
  
A lump caught in John's throat at that moment, "Oh—nothing. Just had some papers I remembered I needed to look through."


	4. Chapter 4

"Favorite movie of all time," asked Antonio as he and John sat there in the waiting room with Jessica and Natalie. It was 2 am—Kevin had left to try and find Kelly, Jessica had ended up falling asleep across the length of three chairs, using hers and Antonio's jackets for a pillow and blanket while Natalie was stretched out on the couch listening in, but slowly falling asleep.  
  
"Hmmm—Dirty Harry with Clint Eastwood," he said as he took a few seconds to think hard.  
  
Antonio laughed, "How did I know that was what you were going to say?"  
  
John had to laugh also, "Guess the character may have rubbed off on me just a bit, huh?"  
  
"Just a little," said Natalie with a yawn, "John—if you want to you can go home—I think I'm just going to fall asleep on the couch here until morning," she said as she stretched her long body past the length of the couch itself.  
  
"What about you and Jessica?" he asked Antonio.  
  
Antonio looked over to Jessica snoozing away and smiled, "I was thinking just now of getting her to wake up and go home for a few more hours to sleep—but I don't want to leave you here alone," he said towards Natalie.  
  
"I'll be fine, really," she said sleepily.  
  
"Hey—why don't you come over to my place and crash for the night? That way we're closer to the hospital in the morning when they call and give us some news," said John as he rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Are you sure about that John?"  
  
He gave a half smile, "Yeah, I'm sure."  
  
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"You never told me your favorite movie," said John as they began to walk into the hotel.  
  
"Oh this is an easy one. Wizard of Oz—there used to be this old theater on 9th in AC—every summer they would play two movies all summer long for a dollar. I think I probably kept them running that entire summer"  
  
"Yeah? I remember that theater from when I was younger—I snuck in there a few times actually."  
  
Natalie laughed, "What movie could make you sneak into a theatre?"  
  
"Dirty Harry," he grinned as they opened the door to his bedroom and he realized he hadn't finished putting up Caitlin's stuff.  
  
"These were the important papers you had to look over earlier?"  
  
"Uhm, yeah—I was putting it up when Jessica called to see where you were. Let me clean it up and find you something to wear tonight," he said as he threw everything in the drawer and shoved it quickly back into the dresser.  
  
Natalie watched John going through his drawer and pull out an old t-shirt and some flannel pajama bottoms, "Uhm, thanks," she said as he went into the bathroom to give her privacy, "What am I doing here?" she sighed as she took in the scent of his shirt.  
  
"Did you say something?" he called out from the bathroom.  
  
"No," she said as she crawled in under the covers.  
  
He looked directly in the mirror and sighed—he was trying to decide to tell Natalie he was ready now or wait until morning. He didn't think he would chicken out later, but he wasn't sure—he threw some water on his face and sighed, "It's now or never," before going into the room, "Hey Nat--," but he stopped—she was sound asleep under the covers of his bed, bear-hugging the other pillow. He just smiled and went and sat down in the chair and fell asleep watching her.  
  
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The running water woke him up and looked to see Natalie had already gotten up and made the bed. He sighed that he hadn't got to see what she looked like after being asleep the whole night, but maybe if he was lucky he could get to see that soon enough. He waited a few minutes and she came out, "Good morning," he said softly.  
  
"Hi," she said as she ran her fingers through her wet hair again and pulling it back into the hair clip she had.  
  
"Give me a few minutes and I'll go back to the hospital with you."  
  
"No—you've done enough last night John. I'm sure you've got some more important stuff to do today," she said as she glared towards the dresser.  
  
His eyes followed her glare and then he turned back to her, "Did I do something wrong?"  
  
"No—I did. I thought you might have actually been doing work last night when you didn't come back immediately—but instead you were sitting here weeping over your lost Lenore."  
  
"Ok, first let me say this—last night I wasn't weeping over her. I mean I was, but it's not like what you think."  
  
"Oh yeah? Then why don't you tell me John—tell me you weren't sitting here saying how much you missed her, how much you wish she were here and you had your life and two and a half children already living in the white house with the picket fence on the hill. Tell me!"  
  
John couldn't help but smile at her ridiculous notion, "I can happily tell you I wasn't doing or thinking anything of the sort last night."  
  
"Yeah, then what were you doing in here with all her things spread out on the bed?"  
  
"I was telling her goodbye."  
  
Those words knocked Natalie back for a few seconds, but she regained composure and was able to stutter out a response, "Why would you do something like that?"  
  
John walked directly in front of her, nothing separating them but a few centimeters. He took her chin and pushed it up towards his face so he could look straight in her eyes when he said these words the first time, "Because I love you."  
  
"You—you what?"  
  
"I love you," he said as he leaned down for a kiss but was abruptly shoved away, "What is it now?"  
  
"Why are you saying all of this?"  
  
"Because it's true?" he said with a laugh.  
  
"No, it's not true because I know how you were looking the other day—when we were lying on that bed you stopped and looked at me—and I could tell you were thinking of Caitlin, not me."  
  
"The other day I stopped then because I realized I had these feelings I didn't think I deserved to have again, but you know what? I realized I do think I deserve them, and I want them to happen with you Natalie. I want to be able to tell you about my day and hear about yours--."  
  
"We do that already—it's called friends John."  
  
"Will you please let me finish this speech before I don't have the balls to say it?" he said with frustration in his voice.  
  
"Sorry," she said as she looked at her feet for a second and then back up at him.  
  
"It's ok. I wanted to tell you this last night but you had fallen asleep already. This morning when I woke up and you were already awake I was sad because I didn't get to see what you looked like when you wake up in the morning. I was worried about you talking to Dr. Long last night, and it's not because of some supposed white knight complex you say I have—it's because I was worried that if something happened to you I would never be able to do this," he said as he walked towards her and pulled her close covering his mouth with hers. She hesitated for a moment but finally gave in as he walked her backwards towards the bed, slightly nudging her to sit on the bed as his hands found the edge of her shirt and slid underneath to feel her soft skin.  
  
They hadn't got much further than that when her cell phone rang, "Natalie," he whispered as she kissed his neck, "Natalie—do you want to answer that?"  
  
She stopped and mumbled against his skin, "No."  
  
He gave a soft chuckle, "I'm not saying I want this to stop this either—but it might be the hospital," he whispered into her hair.  
  
Natalie sighed, "You really do know how to spoil the moment, don't you? Hello?"  
  
"Hey Natalie," said Kevin on the other end, "The nurse said the doctor is going to come by with some news—I just figured you'd want to be here for it."  
  
"Yes—thanks Kevin. I'll be there in a few minutes," she said hanging up the phone and looking towards John.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Natalie sighed, "The doctor has some news and is going to be there soon." Her eyes filled with tears again.  
  
"Hey, you are going to have your mom around for a very long time."  
  
"How can you be sure? I mean how can we be sure if we don't get it from Dr. Long."  
  
"We're not getting it from that quack, and I just have a hunch about your mom," he said as he gave her a kiss and she smiled at him and kissed him back. 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Well, I got some bad news--this story has taken a mind of it's own and will be longer than I originally expected. Sorry for those of you who wanted it to be over soon ;) Anyways, everyone enjoy and have a Happy Memorial Day Holiday! Until next time--PCGirl.

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"Ugh, I'm so nervous," said Natalie as they watched each floor number light up on the elevator until it reached the 6th floor.  
  
"Don't be, it's going to be ok," he said as he kissed the top of her head. He wanted to stop the elevator and just take her in his arms for a few minutes, but knew she wanted to get up there and see her mom. He grabbed her hand and held it tight as they walked off together, "Hey Bo," he said as he saw him standing there.  
  
"Hey—I'm glad you're here. I need you to come down to the station for a few minutes—there's something I need to talk about."  
  
"Well, can it wait? I'd like to be here for support for Natalie until they hear some news."  
  
Bo grimaced, "I really need you down there. I promise this won't take long."  
  
John bit his lip and looked at Natalie, "Will you be ok here?"  
  
"Yeah, Antonio and Kevin are here—go do what you need to do and I'll see you in a bit."  
  
He sighed, "Ok," and leaned down and kissed her and whispered, "I love you Natalie."  
  
Natalie's eyes sparkled at hearing him say that, "I love you too, John McBain," and she walked off.  
  
"You finally took the leap, huh?" said Bo as they went back to the elevator.  
  
John smiled and blushed slightly at being called out, "Yeah, and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be."  
  
--------------  
  
"I understand it's my job and all Bo, but I really wish you would have at least let me stay with Natalie until they gave them some news."  
  
"You can go back as soon as this is over with, I promise," he said as he motioned towards his office and they walked in.  
  
John walked in and stopped as he looked at her, "Kathryn—hi."  
  
Kathryn walked directly up to him, "How are you doing, John?"  
  
He gave out a loud sigh and turned to look at Bo, "Bo—you dragged me all the way down here to see her?"  
  
"Let her talk first John."  
  
John rubbed his face, took a step back and sat on the edge of Bo's desk, "Fine—what did I do to deserve your wonderful visit today, Agent Fitzgerald?"  
  
"Paul Cramer—he's dead."  
  
John tried to hold the chuckle in, "Oh really?"  
  
She brushed her hair back on one side and looked at him, "Yeah. They found him beaten up in an alley in Atlantic City."  
  
"What? I thought he was supposed to go to Newark," he said as she shook his head in confusion.  
  
"How did you know where he should have been, John?" asked Bo.  
  
"Last night—Natalie went up to the roof to take in the news about her mom. I went up there to talk to her and fly boy and his boss—Dr. Long—they came out, Dr. Long handed him an ice chest and then told him to go to Newark. He then said that afterwards Paul needed to get in contact with Natalie so he could get her to hand over her trust fund for a heart for Vicki."  
  
"And you didn't arrest him?" asked Kathryn as she flipped her hair to one side.  
  
"No, because I felt I could possibly be putting Natalie's life in danger by doing so. Is there any reason I need to be here right now?"  
  
"Yes. Paul--his last words were your name."  
  
John couldn't help laugh this time, "I swear—if one more person on his deathbed says my name I think I'm going to kill myself. And for the record Kathryn—I was with Natalie ALL NIGHT LONG—there is no way I went to Newark or Atlantic City, and if you want to ask Nat you can, but not right now while her mother is clinging on for dear life, understand?"  
  
"I'll tell you what I understand - John. The way this looks you won't have to kill yourself. You'll be on death row."  
  
"Do you have anything to hold me on?" he asked as she looked down at her paper, "Well, good—you'll know where to find me," he said as he left Bo's office with the door slamming shut.  
  
-----------  
  
John walked off the elevator and looked around until he saw Antonio, "Hey, what's going on?"  
  
"This morning a heart came through for Vicki. She's been in the operating room for an hour now."  
  
John was able to smile, "That's great. Hey—Kathryn Fitzgerald is back in town and Paul Cramer is dead."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, anyways the stupid little punk said my name on his deathbed, so they think I had something to do with it."  
  
"Well, that's ridiculous. I mean you were with me here in the waiting room until 2 am, and then you went back with Natalie to your place for the night. The only time you were technically out of mine or her sight all day yesterday was the fifteen minutes you were in your hotel room after chasing Dr. Long away from the roof of the hotel."  
  
"Yeah, well I was trying to explain that to my dear ex-partner, but she wasn't listening to me. Hey, where is Natalie anyways?"  
  
"Right here," smiled Natalie as she came off the elevator and handed him a piece of paper before leaning up and giving him a kiss on the cheek and halfway noticed the smile that appeared on Antonio's face.  
  
He read the paper once and then twice before looking at her, "I thought we talked about not going back to Dr. Long this morning?"  
  
"Yeah, well I told Dorian what I did last night—and that he may or may not know that my mom got a heart yet. So I went in to his office with my checkbook in hand. He gave me this paper to fill out—saying if I were to snitch on him he'll sue me for every penny I owned. Before I could sign though Dorian walked in on queue. He was so taken off guard with what happened he asked me to leave and didn't realize I took the paper with me."  
  
John sighed, "I'm glad you got us some proof to do a search, but I think Dr. Long's little scam is over anyways. Paul Cramer is dead."  
  
"What? What happened?"  
  
"Why don't you tell me?" asked Kathryn as she came off the elevator.  
  
"I thought I told you to leave her alone for the next few days—when did you stop listening to me?"  
  
"When you stopped being a Fed John—you aren't a higher up anymore, just one of the men in blue."  
  
"Fine, what's up?"  
  
"I wanted to see how much Ms. Vega here could vouch for your alibi."  
  
John looked at Natalie, and placed his hand on the small of her back, his thumb making circles on her skin and nodded at her, "John found me around 7:30 last night at my place."  
  
"What were you doing?"  
  
"Wait—when did I become a suspect?"  
  
"Just answer the question."  
  
"Fine. I had dinner with Paul Cramer, and then we went upstairs to my room—and uhm—John McBain came over about ten minutes later to tell me about my mother. He drove me to the hospital, then we went up to the roof to talk, and after Paul took off in his Medivac, he left for about fifteen minutes, when he came back and stayed with me until I'm guessing he was summoned by you to the police station," she said rolling her eyes. "Anything else?"  
  
"John—can someone vouch for you before 7:30?"  
  
"Yes, I can," said Antonio as they were joined by Jess, "I saw John around the office from lunch on, and then he and I went to do a stakeout from 6 pm to around 7:15, which at that time we found out that Vicki Davidson had a massive heart attack, and left the stakeout to go pick up Natalie and Jessica to bring them here."  
  
"What was the stakeout for?"  
  
"I don't believe that is information you need to know. Now I'm getting hungry—John, Natalie, would you like to join us in the cafeteria?"  
  
"Sounds good," said John as he hit the elevator button and got on with Natalie.  
  
"I need my purse," said Jessica as she turned to go get it from the waiting area.  
  
"We'll meet you down there," said John as he hit the door close button and let it go down half a floor and hit the emergency stop button.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"I've been wanting to do this all day, and if I have to stop an elevator for five minutes to get some time with you—well, Jess and Antonio can take the stairs," he smiled as he picked her up and held her against the wall and he looked into her eyes and smiled before kissing her.


	6. Chapter 6

"Was it Jess or Nat this time?" asked John as Antonio walked back in and putting his cell phone down on the desk.  
  
"Jess—they said their mom looks good. She's awake now so they are going to sit with her until she falls asleep—then they are going to get lunch and go back to Llanfair for a bit."  
  
"Sleep sounds good—food sounds wonderful."  
  
"I thought you would sleep when you were dead."  
  
"Yeah, well that's usually the case, but last night I didn't get any sleep in that chair while Natalie had the bed."  
  
"You and Nat—did you talk last night? I mean it's not my business or anything, but I thought I saw a few kisses and squeezing of hands at the hospital before."  
  
John gave a nervous laugh and could feel the back of his neck getting warm and instinctively reached back to touch it, "Yeah, we talked—it all worked out the best for both of us."  
  
"What in the world does that mean?" laughed Antonio.  
  
John stopped writing on the form he had in front of him and put down the pen before stretching back in the chair, "I think it means that we're both happy for the first time in a long time."  
  
----------  
  
"Jessica, Natalie—I really don't need a babysitter. Don't you have somewhere else to be that is more important than sitting with me?" asked Vicki.  
  
"No, I've taken the day off of work, and Antonio and John are both at the station writing up the report on the search of Dr. Long's office."  
  
"Antonio and John, huh?" grinned Vicki "Does that mean you and John are together?"  
  
"I guess it means we're happy, but that doesn't matter right now—what matters is that you keep getting stronger so you can go home soon."  
  
"Well, knowing you are happy will definitely help me get stronger," smiled Vicki then closed her eyes.  
  
"Are you ok, Mom?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine—I just think I'm going to take a short nap. Why don't you two go get some food for yourself and Antonio and John and then come by later tonight before visiting hours are up?"  
  
"Are you sure that's what you want? I mean we can stay as long as you need us to," spoke Jessica.  
  
"Yes, I'm positive—you two must be starving and about to fall asleep. Did you even get any sleep last night?"  
  
"Well, does a few hours at John's hotel room on a hard bed count?"  
  
"No, I don't believe it does. I will see both of you later," she said giving them each kisses before they left.  
  
"So you slept in John's bed last night, huh?" grinned Jessica as they went to the elevator.  
  
"Yeah, and he slept in the chair."  
  
"Right. And you two weren't kissing when him and Antonio went to the station earlier."  
  
Natalie blushed, "I won't deny that. Does this interrogation have a point?"  
  
"Just that I'm glad you are happy."  
  
"Me too."  
  
------------  
  
"Hey Marcie—have you seen Antonio and John?" asked Jessica as they walked in the station with brown paper bags from Rodi's.  
  
"Not lately. I saw them about half an hour ago going towards John's office—try there first, but they may have gone back to the hospital to check something out again at Dr. Long's office."  
  
"Thanks," said Natalie as she led the way and walked in first, "Awww—look at that."  
  
"Poor thing—all work and no play makes John a sleepy boy, huh?" laughed Jessica as they saw John stretched out in his chair with his head resting on the filing cabinet behind him and his feet crossed on his desk.  
  
"I guess you could say the same thing about Antonio then," she said as they saw he had fallen asleep on the couch next to the desk with some papers lying on his chest. "Should we wake them or just leave?"  
  
"Hmm. I'm sure that Uncle Bo wouldn't want them sleeping on the job," said Natalie as she leaned across the desk, "McBain," she said in a very loud voice.  
  
"I'm up—I'm up, just resting my eyes," he said before seeing Natalie and smiling, "Hey, what are you two doing here?"  
  
"We come bringing gifts—cheeseburgers and fries from Rodi's to be exact. Either of you two interested in actual food to eat instead of horrid coffee?"  
  
"I am," said Antonio as he woke up moved over to Jessica could sit next to him and Natalie pulled over a chair beside John's.  
  
"So where is Robocop—I mean Kathryn?" asked Natalie as she handed John his burger.  
  
"Natalie," said John as his eyes narrowed at her for the comment.  
  
"Sorry, it just came out. You do have to admit, she does stand a little rigid."  
  
"And her voice does have a monotone sound to it," added Jessica which got a grin from Natalie.  
  
"Both of you stop—that's just how she is."  
  
"Tell me that Caitlin wasn't like that."  
  
John laughed, "No, they were complete opposites. But let's not talk bad about Kathryn, ok?"  
  
"Fine. Where is she anyways?"  
  
"She is--."  
  
"John, Kathryn is on line two," said Marcie as she peeked her head in the door and closed it as both girls started laughing.  
  
"Hey—stop the laughing or both of you are going to be finishing lunch in the hall," he said giving them both an evil look before answering the phone, "McBain."  
  
"John. It's Kathryn."  
  
"Hey—anything new you'd like to share to clear Natalie and myself from Paul Cramer's murder?" he asked as Natalie and Jessica tried not to make eye contact so they wouldn't start laughing.  
  
"Well, it seems that you two were right on where he was supposed to go. His Medivac was indeed found in Newark. Would you like to explain how he made it to Atlantic City then?"  
  
"Hold on a moment please, Kathryn," he said putting his hand on the receiver and motioning both girls out of the room—though it didn't help because he could still hear them giggling outside.  
  
"Is this a bad time, John?"  
  
John tried to regain his stoic composure though hearing Natalie's laugh did nothing but make him want to smile, "Huh? Oh no—everything is fine here—just had to get a file out and put down the telephone. As for how did Paul get separated from his Medivac? Well, he had a lot of people that wanted him dead—maybe he trusted the wrong person and got into a car with them when he shouldn't have."  
  
"Right. I'm keeping an eye on you John."  
  
"That's great to hear—talk to you soon," he said hanging up the phone. "Ok you two—come back in."  
  
"How is Kathryn?" asked Natalie as she drew out the name and lowered her voice to a sultry tone.  
  
John couldn't help but give out a half laugh, "Kathryn is fine. Jessica—before I say what she told me, this is completely confidential, ok?"  
  
"Ok," said Jessica as she looked at Antonio before hearing what John said.  
  
"Natalie—you and I did hear right, Paul was headed for Newark last night. His Medivac was in Newark though he wasn't found there."  
  
"So are we cleared?"  
  
"We should be, I just wish I knew why Kathryn is still pursuing us as suspects." 


	7. Chapter 7

Natalie couldn't help smiling as they walked off the elevator and onto the parking garage, "My Mom looks better now than she did this morning. Just think—soon she'll get to come home and be able to have her old life back."  
  
John looked at her and smiled also, "I'm glad you can say those words."  
  
"Me too. I mean I was so worried, and so scared that we wouldn't get a heart in time but we did, and now you are almost ready to arrest Dr. Long."  
  
"Yeah, I just wish I could figure out who killed Paul," he said as they heard gun fire and he shoved Natalie behind a car, "Stay here—do not move until I come back," he said as he kissed her and began to move around the cars. He couldn't see where the gun fire came from, but luckily their first shot was a bad shot. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed quickly, "Antonio," he whispered. "We've got a gunman on the second level of the parking garage shooting at Natalie and myself."  
  
"I'll be there in a few." John exchanged cell phone for his gun as he tried to figure out the location of the gunamn. He stood up for a second and then ducked immediately from a bullet.  
  
"John!" screamed Natalie from behind him.  
  
"I'm ok," he yelled back. Now he knew where the shooter was so he slipped over a few more cars and then cut across without the person noticing. He began slipping back towards where the bullet came from and soon had come up behind the gunman, "Put the gun down! Put it down now before I blow your brains out!"  
  
The guy turned around and still had his finger around the trigger.  
  
"Don't do it—I swear I'll blow your brains out," he said as he also put his finger on the trigger and aimed it at the guys head and the guy dropped his gun, "Good—you aren't as dumb as you look after all. So tell me who your boss is," he said as he still kept the gun on the guy.  
  
"I—I don't know their name."  
  
"Whatever—how else could they know you finished the job? I didn't fall off the turnip wagon yesterday man."  
  
"All I know is her last name," he stuttered out.  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"Fitzgerald."  
  
John felt a lump in his throat, "What?"  
  
"Yeah, she met me last night at some bar on the edge of town—gave me $10,000 and your picture. Said I'd probably find you with some red head at the hospital today and to take you both out."  
  
John grabbed the other gun and pushed it behind him with his foot and put his gun back in the holster as he saw Antonio coming over, "Book him," he said as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed, "Hey—this is Officer John McBain. I need an arrest warrant put out on an FBI Agent by the name of Kathryn Fitzgerald—K-A-T-H-R-Y-N. Yeah, she put a hit out on me and my girlfriend. I think she is either the killer or heavily involved in the death of Paul Cramer."  
  
"Kathryn? She did this?" asked Antonio.  
  
"Yeah—I knew something was messed up when she said Paul was found in Atlantic City and not Newark. I just didn't realize she was a dirty cop."  
  
"Well, it's hard to believe your friends can change like that. Where is Natalie?"  
  
"Natalie, come out," he called in the direction of the car he'd left her at but didn't get a response and walked over, "Nat? Natalie!" he yelled when he realized her purse was on the ground and she was gone. He turned around to look at Antonio and suddenly a black Ford Expedition went roaring past both of them.  
  
"Was that who I thought it was?" asked John as he ran back over and they heard the police sirens coming up the deck.  
  
"Yeah, it was Kathryn."  
  
--------------  
  
"Here you go Commish—I dotted all my I's, crossed all my T's, and now I'm going to go help on the search for Natalie," said John as he turned in his report on the apprehension of the trigger man Kathryn had hired along with Natalie's kidnapping and turned to leave.  
  
"John, wait."  
  
"What is it Bo?" asked John as he leaned his head against the door jam.  
  
"I think the search is too personal for you to help in."  
  
"Bo--."  
  
"Let me finish, ok? She's my niece, and that's why I'm here in the office instead of out there looking for her. When things get personal--."  
  
"You don't see as clearly as you should and may impede the investigation, I know. I promised you once I wouldn't let Natalie get hurt because of me, and I've failed you because she's missing now. Let me make it up to you and the rest of her family by finding her and bringing her home."  
  
"Natalie wouldn't want you hurt either. Just go back to your place, rest a little, and then I'll see you back here later. Don't worry about the search—Antonio's got it covered."  
  
John turned to leave got five steps out the door and turned back, "One more thing before I leave—Antonio, he's a good guy and I trust him with my life, but he has as much of a personal interest in this than we do—why is he still on the case?"  
  
Bo just smiled, "I guess because he's not kissing her and telling her he loves her?"  
  
John smiled and gave a small laugh, "Thanks, Bo."  
  
-----------  
  
Natalie sat there in the dark, she hoped Kathryn would be back soon and hadn't just planned to leave her here forever. Finally she heard the far door open and then the light above Natalie's chair turn on, "What in the hell do you think you are doing?" she asked. She remembered Kathryn had given her something to knock her out on the drive over, and she had grabbed—was it still in her pocket? Her arms were tied behind her so she couldn't feel for it, but she hoped it was still there to give to John when he saved her.  
  
Kathryn walked to the edge of the light, barely visible for Natalie to see, "I'm taking the law into my own hands."  
  
Natalie wanted to pull her into the edge of the light so she could watch her facial expressions, not that she had many, "Taking the law into your own hands? I didn't do anything wrong!" she yelled but regained her composure, "I thought you were a good cop Kathryn—what changed?"  
  
Kathryn started pacing, "I changed when I lost my sister."  
  
A lump caught in Natalie's throat, "I'm sorry about Caitlyn, but what do I have to do with her death?"  
  
"Nothing actually," she said as she gave a sigh and finally came into the lighted circle, "You are really just bait to get to a bigger fish I want to catch in this whole scheme?"  
  
"A bigger fish—John? For what—killing your sister? He didn't pull the trigger Kathryn, Haver did."  
  
"But John taunted him and now I'm without my sister."  
  
"John has been without Caitlyn for over five years too, he cared for her also—but now he's ready to move on, don't you want him to be happy?" asked Natalie as her voice calmed down a bit. "No! If I can't be happy then neither can he."  
  
"He's going to find me Kathryn—he'll search until he's about to fall down from exhaustion, but he will find me."  
  
Kathryn gave a half smirk, "Yeah, he'll find you alright—at the bottom of the Llantano River. Too bad he won't be able to prove who did it since he'll be behind bars for Paul's murder."  
  
Natalie realized she was talking to someone who was not completely rational at the moment, "He can't be charged because we gave our statements on where we were--."  
  
"These statements?" said Kathryn as she held up the papers and started reading them, "I met up with John McBain at---."  
  
"You little--."  
  
"What? Bitch? Yeah, so?"  
  
"So? You are killing innocent people and condemning others—that's not what you were sworn to do. You are supposed to uphold the law, and make sure justice is served."  
  
"But justice will be served—right before John is put away for life for the murder's of Paul Cramer and Natalie Buchanan Vega."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Everyone enjoy--one more chapter to go, I think. ;) Until next time--PCGirl.

* * *

"McBain—wake up," said the soft voice as John's eyes fluttered open and saw Natalie standing in front of his bed wearing a dark blue negligee that brought out her eyes.  
  
"Hey—how did you get in here?" he asked as he scooted over and she kneeled down and straddled him.  
  
"Does that matter? I mean aren't you happy to see me?" she grinned as she leaned over him and her hair fell over her shoulders and around his face.  
  
"Of course I'm happy to see you—I just—how did you get away from Kathryn?" asked John as she began kissing his neck and getting her hands underneath his shirt, "Nat—stop, please—just answer the question for me first."  
  
"No, John."  
  
"Hold on!" he said pushing her up and seeing it was Kathryn straddling him instead.  
  
"She's gone John—you are never going to get to hold her in your arms every again."  
  
"NO!" he yelled as he woke up in his room and looked around. "It was a dream—just a dream," he sighed as he sat up and put his head against the headboard and stared off into the distance—this was his fault, whether anyone wanted to admit what they were thinking, he knew he'd let Natalie get too close and now she was in danger. Just like Caitlyn.  
  
He pulled out the piece of paper from Caitlyn's diary he'd torn out and read over it before placing it back in his front pocket and closing his eyes for a moment. He opened his eyes and looked at the painted wall and a grin escaped as he remembered his little problem with the paintbrush and his favorite shirt.  
  
A knocking at the door made John's remembrance of that day end, but he stayed quiet—not ready to hear whatever news they may have for him. "John—hey, it's Antonio—open up man. Come on John—I've got something to tell you."  
  
John slipped off the bed and opened the door, staring at Antonio for a second before gulping down another swallow of beer, "What?"  
  
"I think we've found the SUV. It's not too far from here near a warehouse. Bo said if you want you can join us—since you might be the only one to talk Kathryn into surrendering." Before Antonio could finish the sentence though John had grabbed his gun out of his nightstand drawer and was down the hall.  
  
----------  
  
"Let me go in first," whispered John as he slipped through the half open warehouse door with his gun drawn. There was a light at the far end, but his area was dark and he couldn't see what was in front of him until he made it to the edge of the light. He looked at Natalie sitting there tied into the chair, her head slumped forward and for a second he thought she was dead and his heart stopped, "Sweetheart?" he said quietly as he came into the light and she looked up at him and smiled, "Hey," he said as his hands ran across her face and through her hair.  
  
"John--."  
  
"Shhh. Is she still in here?"  
  
"What do you think?" said a voice behind him and John turned on his feet and held his gun up and saw Kathryn was holding her gun on him also, "What did I do?"  
  
"Like you don't know," she said as she squatted on her knees and looked him the eyes.  
  
John didn't take his eyes off her, but he could tell that Natalie was sitting next to him with her heart racing, "Ok, why don't you let Natalie go and we can talk—like old times when we were on a stakeout. Remember having to sit in that van joking about stupid stuff? We spilled a lot of secrets like that on those nights. So what do you say Kathryn?"  
  
"I say we're not buddy-buddy anymore John, and there is no way I'm letting her leave here."  
  
"Kathryn—your beef is with me, not her."  
  
"Oh believe me—she's not innocent," she said waving the gun towards Natalie and she jumped. "What's wrong? Don't like guns?"  
  
"Don't do this Kathryn," sighed John.  
  
"No, stop telling me what to do and not to do. I should have never listened to you—never invited her to that Jazz club that night. She'd still be alive if that night hadn't happened."  
  
"This is why you are doing all of this? To get back to me for the death of Caitlyn? I mean that's understandable, but this is our fight—Nat has nothing do with this—so for the last time will you please let me escort her out and then we'll come back in and me and you can talk."  
  
"No John—I'm not scared to stay here," said Natalie as she thought she was more scared to leave him alone with her and the possibility of losing him.  
  
John turned his head to look at Natalie—she was so brave and strong—trying to keep her feelings under control all the while he knew she was ready to break down in tears on the inside, "You sure?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He gave a sigh, "Ok—Kathryn what is it that made you do this?"  
  
"What made me do this? You John—this is all your fault. You had to have that stupid police briefing aired and taunted Haver into killing her—you might have well pulled the trigger and ended all of our lives that night. I'm alone now—do you realize that? Caitlyn—she mattered so much to me and you didn't care—YOU DIDN'T CARE!"  
  
"I didn't care? My God Kathryn, I cared so much about her that I didn't allow a day to go by in five years where I didn't wake up missing her and wondering what I could have done differently. And then to find out it was Haver and that he did it because I was cocky on television? That hurt worse than anything because there was something I could have done to stop her death—and that was catch the maniac before he killed another dozen women before being killed. You want me to be alone and miserable the rest of my life?"  
  
"Yes, because that's what I'm going to be."  
  
"No—no you shouldn't because that's not wait Caitlyn wanted. She wanted us to be happy—she didn't want us to mourn her for the rest of our lives. Here, read this," he said pulling out the folded paper from his pocket and trying to hand it to her.  
  
"No—you are just trying to distract me and it won't work," she said as she pushed the paper out of his hands and it fell on the dirt floor.  
  
"Fine—this is obviously getting nowhere so just shoot me Kathryn. Shoot me now!"  
  
"John!" yelled Natalie but he ignored her pleas.  
  
"You say that you want me to be miserable—not to love again, then just go ahead and do it. But one condition—if you kill me then let Natalie go," he said as he watched her façade begin to break slowly, "You know you want to—you know if you didn't think you'd get caught you would have been the trigger man the other day in the hospital parking lot. This is your chance Kathryn—complete and full redemption for Caitlyn's death," he said as he watched her grasp the gun firmer in her hands and then drop it, "Come on," he said as he put his gun back in the holster and pulled her into a hug and lead her back out of the warehouse.  
  
"Natalie?" called Bo as he came through the dark into the circle before someone found the power box and turned on the rest of the lights. "Hey, let me get you out of this. Are you ok?"  
  
"I'm fine," she said as she put her arms around his neck and wouldn't let go. "Where is John?"  
  
"He left—said for me to get you home safe."  
  
"Oh, here," she said as she took the edge of her sleeve and went into her pocket before pulling out some dog tags by the metal chain, "Before I passed out in the SUV I saw these on the floor—I didn't get to see whose they were, though I could take a guess."  
  
Bo put a rubber glove on and took the tags and read them, "Paul L. Cramer. I guess we found Paul's killer."  
  
"Yeah, she told me she was going to make it look like John killed him, but not before he found my body at the bottom of the Llantano River—and they'd somehow think he killed me also," she said as tears began to fill her eyes and she clung to Bo's shoulders for comfort.  
  
"Hey—it's ok, nobody on the force thought John had anything to do with your disappearance. He loves you Natalie—that was obvious to anyone who watched him the past day and a half. You don't worry for someone like he did, and have a part in their demise. We're all safe ok? Let's get you home and resting—you've had a tough past few days," he said as he put an arm around her shoulders and led her out.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Here's the end of my story--I do hope you all enjoyed my version of everything, and I appologize for taking soooo long. I would have had this up last night, but someone had me giggiling incontrollably. Anyways--until I come up with a new Jolie fic, Enjoy! Until then--PCGirl.

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"What are you doing here?" asked Natalie as she opened the door to the cottage and saw John standing there in the drizzle of rain that was coming down.  
  
"I came by to see that you were ok, and maybe to chat some," he said as he smiled a bit looking at her in a cotton t-shirt and red and black checkered shorts. He could tell he'd woken her up, as her hair was slightly flat on the left side. He realized he'd never known what side she slept on at night, but knew the answer now.  
  
"Well, I was asleep—so I suppose I'm fine," she shrugged.  
  
"I kinda noticed," he said with a slight smile. "Hey—I'm getting a bit wet out here, do you mind if I come in?"  
  
"Fine," she sighed as she turned and walked into the foyer. "So where did you go after you left me? Let Kathryn cry on your shoulder? Consoled her? Promised her to never love again?"  
  
John bit the inside of his cheek before responding, "Actually the answer to all those questions is no. I did transport Kathryn to Saint Anne's. Then I called her parents and told them what happened."  
  
"Why did you do that?"  
  
"Because I felt it was a final obligation to them," he shrugged. "They are going to get her the best psychiatrist their money can buy. Then I went back to the warehouse to pick something up."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
John titled his head to the side, "Does it really matter?"  
  
"No, I guess not," she shrugged. "So do you want some tea or dry clothes?" she laughed as she realized he must have been standing outside the door for ten minutes trying to decide to knock or not.  
  
John laughed, "Am I that wet?"  
  
"Yeah you are," she laughed again as she came over and helped him take off his leather jacket and laid it down on a chair to dry. She turned around and saw he was now directly behind her. She bit her lip looking up at him as his hand moved up and went under her hair while the other went around to the small of her back and pulled her directly next to him. She stretched her body up along his to kiss him and he picked her up off the floor slightly and turned towards the couch, settling her down on the couch as he stood over her and quickly flicked off his shoes, never taking his mouth off of hers.  
  
He stopped for a moment and opened his eyes to look at her and for a second she thought he was going to stop again, but he smiled instead and she pulled his head back towards hers as they finally allowed each other to get lost in one another.  
  
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Natalie's eyes fluttered open as she tried to lay on the couch and not fall off of it but not wake John in the process. She began to scoot towards him more, but he shifted onto his side and she lost her balance and began to fall backwards, "I gotcha," he said sleepily as he pulled her towards him with the arm that was tightly around her waist still. They had made love on the couch for hours, finally falling asleep tangled up in each others arms and a chenille throw that was on the back of the couch.  
  
"Maybe we should move up to my room—you know, that way your mom doesn't see her son and his girlfriend completely naked except for a blanket on the couch when she comes down for breakfast."  
  
John smiled slightly, finally opening his eyes as he saw the sky outside was not as dark as before, and the clouds from the rain must have moved through, "Good idea," he said releasing his grasp on her so she could sit up, and gather their clothes, taking the blanket with her as she went up the steps to her room.  
  
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"John?" said Natalie quietly as she opened her eyes and didn't feel him next to her in the bed.  
  
"Hey, I'm here," he said as he came back to the bed and laid behind her.  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
John laughed, "Are you sure you want to know that answer? Let's just say we could consider this mid-morning."  
  
"Are you serious?" she said turning over and seeing he had only gotten as far as putting on his grey tank top and boxers.  
  
"Yeah, I've got to get to work."  
  
"Will you come back and be here when my mom gets home?"  
  
"I will," he said giving her a slight kiss which quickly turned into something more passionate. He was never going to get to work at the rate he was going, but who could blame him.  
  
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"John-aren't you going over to Llanfair when Vicki comes home later?" asked Daniel Colson as he stuck his head in the door.  
  
"Yeah, I'm heading out when Antonio does. Hey-look at this," he said as he looked up and handed a piece of paper to Daniel.  
  
"Cell phone records."  
  
"Yeah, this right here-this call was made to Cramer's telephone five minutes after Natalie and I watched him take off. And this-is Kathryn's telephone numbers. Looks like it was her that called him."  
  
"Nice, now we need proof that she was at the Newark hospital when he got there."  
  
"Natalie finding the dog tags still isn't enough, huh?  
  
"It's fine, but we they can still say there is reasonable doubt."  
  
"I wish her parents lawyer would just take the reasonable insanity defense you offered. Maybe they will-who knows. Hey-is Antonio out there?"  
  
"No, he left fifteen minutes ago."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I was going to when I came in, but then you stopped me," he said as John got up, grabbed his jacket, and then pulled out a black box from his desk drawer before heading out the door, "Hey! Don't kill the messenger!"  
  
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"Hi John," said Eve as she saw her son come in the cottage and give her a kiss on the cheek, "You're late-Natalie was wondering what happened."  
  
John grinned, "Yeah, I know. Is she ready?"  
  
"No, she decided to change what she was wearing."  
  
John laughed, "Some things never change-do they? You get chastised for being late, and then your date isn't ready."  
  
Eve smiled and looked at him for a moment pacing in front of the stairs before saying anything, "You know how happy this makes me? To see you finally allowing yourself to be happy and enjoy life again."  
  
"Yeah, well it took two special women in my life to realize that."  
  
"Who would that be?"  
  
"Natalie, and-Caitlyn," he said quietly.  
  
"Caitlyn?"  
  
"Yeah, the other night I found a message in her diary, that helped me move on," he said as he opened his wallet and pulled out the folded up paper and handed it to her mom. "I doubt if I had read that entry before that night that it would have mattered at all. I'll keep it in my wallet for awhile I suppose-just to remind myself that I'm not doing anything wrong."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with falling in love."  
  
"I know that now," he said as they heard a cough and Natalie was coming down the steps, "Hey," he smiled.  
  
"Hi-what were you talking about?"  
  
"Nothing," he said giving her a kiss.  
  
"Well, I'm going to go upstairs and change for my show tonight-come by if you get a chance, ok John?"  
  
"Ok Mom," he said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and she slipped the paper back into his pocket and felt the velvet box and gave him a look though he just grinned and turned, "Are you ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah, except I'm not sure this outfit looks good enough."  
  
"Yeah, you're right," he grinned.  
  
"Hey now-I know you are rusty at the dating thing John, but you aren't supposed to insult me," she said as she straightened his tie.  
  
"I'm not trying to insult you," he said giving her a kiss and then turning her around. "I just have an idea on what it will take to make it be the perfect outfit."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, close your eyes," he said as he moved forward and nuzzled his nose into her hair and kissed her ear.  
  
"Ok," she said as she stood with her eyes closed in the foyer of the cottage and waited for him to tell her to open her eyes. She could feel him move from behind her for a moment then come back, his arms going around her head and then she felt something around her neck. He hand reached up and she grabbed a hold of a necklace, "Can I open them?"  
  
"Yeah," he said as he finished the clasp and stepped back.  
  
Natalie opened her eyes tilted her head down to try and get a better look at the charm on the end of it and then gave out a laugh, "It's a—pot of gold."  
  
"I'm sorry—it's cheesy, but I just saw it at lunch and thought of you. I'll take it back if you want," he said going towards her to undo the clasp.  
  
"No! I love it—it's funny because I was just thinking about that conversation—how I said I might never be able to find the pot of gold, which for me means happiness. And look—I did find it, and now—it's near my heart, where it belongs," she said twirling around to him and up on her toes to kiss him.


End file.
